SA Government To Unveil Electricity Market Intervention

The move comes after months of power trouble.

The Santos-operated Moomba gas plant is seen outside Moomba, South Australia May 17, 2012.

The South Australian Government is expected unveil a "dramatic" intervention in the National Electricity Market in a plan to be revealed on Tuesday.

The plan -- which is also expected to prompt vast debate -- will use "every aspect of [the state's] arsenal to address the price and stability issues in the grid," Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis told the ABC.

The move follows a series of blackouts and severe weather events in the state.

It's time to take charge of our energy future. Tomorrow we will be releasing South Australia's new energy policy. pic.twitter.com/Hb0W9LjthI

"Australians fundamentally want to retake control of their power assets to suit their own needs because energy is not a commodity to be traded on a marketplace, it's an essential utility. We cannot live without it. And putting it in the hands of shareholders and people who are interested in profit is unacceptable."

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Flinders University Professor John Spoehr said he expects investment in base load power along with a new regulatory framework to bolster reliability in the system.

"If done well, this could make South Australia a bit of a moral for what could happen elsewhere in Australia," said Spoehr, who is Director of the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute at the university.

"Other states are having the same problem, with the need to transition away from coal. So South Australia really is I think going to be looked at very closely to see if it gets this right."